Prosecutors south of Dallas say a 58-year-old man has been sentenced to life in prison for sexually abusing at least five children over a two-year period at his wife's day care.

Dennis Ray Avery of Waxahachie was sentenced Thursday to five life sentences after earlier pleading guilty to five counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, including one charge of continuous sexual abuse. The sentences will run consecutively.

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Ellis County authorities say the victims were all younger than 6 and attended his wife's home-based day care. It's not clear when the abuse began or when it ended. He was arrested in May 2016.

According to the Waxahachie Light, Avery said in court that his interest in young girls began in his late 20s or early 30s. He reportedly claimed he was able to suppress those feelings until October 2015, when he sustained a severe head injury in a car accident.

"After the accident, I had too much time on my hands. I was struggling with my faith and turned my back on God. I was trying hard to be all of the things that I was supposed to be. I started to drifting away and stopped teaching Sunday school," Avery said in court, according to the Waxahachie Light. "Maybe in prison I can get some help and someone can explain it (my actions)."

Ellis County Assistant District Attorney Jake Heffernan presented evidence in court that showed Avery's cellphone search history contained content of a sexual nature before the abuse began. When he asked Avery how he expected the jury to believe the accident triggered his actions, considering it pre-dated the molestion, Avery replied, "I don't. I am sorry."

"He stole the innocence of six little girls," Ellis County Assistant District Attorney Nicole Crain reportedly said in court. "The truth is that it does not matter how kind he is or how many times he went to church. These six girls are not the only victims but so are the parents. Give them a voice."

Avery earlier in the week chose to have the jury determine his punishment. It returned the life sentence after two days of testimony and evidence.